Sermon Tone Analysis

Overall tone of the sermon

This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
A score of 0.5 or higher indicates the tone is likely present.
Emotion Tone
Anger
0.11UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.08UNLIKELY
Fear
0.09UNLIKELY
Joy
0.62LIKELY
Sadness
0.18UNLIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.79LIKELY
Confident
0.17UNLIKELY
Tentative
0UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.84LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.91LIKELY
Extraversion
0.18UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.83LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.53LIKELY

Tone of specific sentences

Tones
Emotion
Anger
Disgust
Fear
Joy
Sadness
Language
Analytical
Confident
Tentative
Social Tendencies
Openness
Conscientiousness
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Emotional Range
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
Discipline of devotion
Opening questions:
How much time do you think you spend doing different activities during the week?
How much time do you think you generally spend in conversation with God?
What does devotion look like?
What would you say are things/people/ideas that you are devoted to?
If someone were to ask you what your plan was for maintaining a devoted life, what would you tell them?
Why do most men fail to live devoted lives?
Why should we meditate on the Lord and his word?
most fail because they simply do not know how to go about cultivating the disciplines of the interior spiritual life
Devotion can not be boiled down to keeping rules only
First, one’s prayer and devotional life cannot be reduced to a few simple rules.
These areas of spiritual experience are far too dynamic and personal for simplistic reduction
All Christians should be systematically reading through the Bible, once a year if possible, so that our minds are being perpetually programmed by the data of Scripture.
This understood, there is yet another step: meditation — which involves personalizing and internalizing a segment of the Word.
, ,
Meditation
The importance of having our ears dug open comes to us from the lips of Jesus: “He who has an ear, let him hear …” (Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22).
We need to read God’s Word, but we must also pray that He will blast through our granite-block heads so we truly hear His Word.
Listening
R. Kent Hughes, Disciplines of a Godly Man, 10th anniversary ed.; rev.
ed.
(Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2001), 85.
This verse says in the Hebrew to ‘have our ears dug out’ - This shows us that often times we can be block heads and not really listen to what we are reading or what we are hearing!
God takes a pick and mines through the sides of our heads so that we can hear!
The importance of having our ears dug open comes to us from the lips of Jesus: “He who has an ear, let him hear …” (Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22).
We need to read God’s Word, but we must also pray that He will blast through our granite-block heads so we truly hear His Word.
Muttering
speaks of “muttering” or “reciting what we have read”
There are certain passages of Scripture that would be very helpful for us to keep before us often.
What are some that you can think of?
Phil
The effects of meditation are supernal, bringing:
• Revival — “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul” (Psalm 19:7).
• Wisdom — “The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple” (Psalm 19:7); “Oh, how I love your law!
I meditate on it all day long.
Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me” (Psalm 119:97, 98).
• Increases in our faith — “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17)
Confession
There can be no ongoing devotion without confession, which can take place anytime.
Ideally it ought to take place whenever we sin.
But all too often we are too proud and emotionally charged to acknowledge our sin at the time we commit it — for example, when we lose our temper in an argument.
But devotion is impossible if we are overloaded with guilt.
Spontaneous Confession
Psalm 139
If we have put off admitting our sins to God, confession may need to come first in our devotional time.
There is also the probability that during Scriptural meditation, or even during adoration, further hidden sins will come to light.
So our moments of devotion may be filled with repeated confession.
Systematic Confession
While understanding that confession should happen spontaneously, our discipline of devotion ought to involve systematic confession as well.
First, we must confess what we are, the ontological reality that we truly are sinners
We must recognize that we are sinners, so there ought to be regular confession to God
Confession is importan
Adoration
The disciplines of devotion should culminate in sublime adoration and worship.
This begins with a proper sense of awe in the presence of the God we know and serve.
What do you really think of God? Are we really in awe of how wonderful he really is?
It would do us well to contemplate on the attributes of God - if you really want to appreciate someone or something, you study it and search out what makes it so special (cars for example)
Worship
The height of devotion is reached when reverence and contemplation produce passionate worship, which in turn breaks forth in thanksgiving and praise in word and song
As we worship we can pray or read or sing God’s Word back to Him.
The Psalms are perfect for this because they are a worship manual.
For example, Psalms 146–150, the last five Psalms, begin and end with “hallelujah” (i.e., “praise the Lord!”).
And Psalm 150 says, “praise the Lord” in every sentence
Submission
Does adoration lead to anything else?
Yes — the presentation of our bodies — our entire lives — in an ultimate act of worship.
This is how Isaiah capped his great experience with God: “Here am I. Send me!”
Our devotion must culminate in a conscious yielding of every part of our personality, every ambition, every relationship, and every hope to Him.
This done, we have reached the apex of personal devotion.
As I cautioned when we began, personal devotion cannot and must not be reduced to a few principles such as meditation, confession, adoration and submission.
Neither can it be put in a logical straitjacket.
Sometimes we may be called to confession and submission only.
Other times, adoration may occupy an extended time, or our devotions will properly be confined to petition only.
There will be times when all of it takes place in twenty minutes.
But one thing is certain — it will not happen without discipline.
The reason many men never have an effective devotional life is, they never plan for it.
They do not know what it is because they have never taken the time to find out.
They do not pray because they do not set aside the time.
Their character never rises to that of Christ’s because they do not expose their lives to His pure light.
Their wills stay crooked because they do not tie into Him.
The question for prayerless men is a very masculine one: Are we man enough to meditate?
To confess?
To adore?
To submit?
To sweat and endure?
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9